Contra Costa County Breeding Bird Atlas
data online
Tue, 12 Mar 2002 07:52:54 -0800
From: Maury Stern
The Contra Costa County Breeding Bird Atlas data for the first 4 years (one to go) are at
This site has been set up by Joel Herr, and Steve Glover is the mastermind behind the CCCBBA. You can find Rufous-crowned Sparrow there along with all the other birds known to breed in CoCo County.
Maury Stern
Original Message Subject Index
Eastern Contra Costa County: swifts and
swallows
Wed, 13 Mar 2002 22:15:25 PST
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
This morning I spent a few hours birding eastern Contra Costa County. With the winds this morning it was pretty much from-the-car birding.
Along Jersey Island Rd east of Oakley there was a light-phase Swainson's Hawk building a nest in an oak just past the first (only) house on the left. They have been nesting here for at least 5 years. After crossing the bridge there are some new ponds on the left and though most are quite far away a couple can be scoped pretty easily. Today there were about 50 American White Pelicans out there. There is some very nice shorebird habitat out there right now which will bear watching for the next 6 weeks or so if it doesn't dry up.
I then went on to Holland Tract near Knightsen but there was very little out there.
Scoping from the marina at the end of Orwood Rd. produced nothing on Palm Tract to the north, but while I was there 195 Greater White-fronted Geese flew over my head to the north. Obviously not leaving just yet. I also had two White-throated Swifts circling around, a bird I don't think I have had there before and which I don't stumble onto very often in east county. In 150 trips to Piper Slough I never had them once!
On Hwy J-4 heading south I came across many large flocks of migrating swallows, mostly Cliff Swallows and Barn Swallows. They seemed to be around water and/or fields with flowering mustard, for whatever reason. One of the flocks contained at least 30 Violet-green Swallows, a bird that is surprisingly hard to come by on the valley floor. I had that one only once at Piper Slough, that one being on March 4 one year. Another flock had at least 8 White-throated Swifts in it. Overall I would say that there was a significant push of swallows this morning, though I have no idea how widespread it may have been.
There were also several Burrowing Owls at their traditional sites around Clifton Court Forebay near Byron, including an obvious one along the entrance road. When you turn onto Clifton Court Rd. from J-4 keep an eye out on the left. They are never on the right.
Finally, there were lots of Red-tailed Hawks on the nest today. I saw at least 5 occupied nests, mostly in eucalyptus, and I didn't really even bother to check the transmission towers that are so heavily used out there.
Good luck,
Steve Glover
Hayward Regional Shoreline
Thu, 14 Mar 2002 21:08:33 PST
From: Bob Richmond
Today the following was seen at Hayward Regional Shoreline:
Wilson's Warbler - 1 at Winton Ave trailhead, was very early for here
5 species of swallow - Barn, Cliff, Tree, Violet-green, Rough-winged
No shorebirds of any type were seen at Hayward Landing - I was there at extreme high tide.
Ross' Goose - 2 in the field with the transmission towers, 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Snow Goose - 1 at San Lorenzo Community Park
Good birding
Bob
Upper San Leandro Reservoir
Thu, 14 Mar 2002 22:29:14 -0800
From: Larry Tunstall
It was a beautiful morning for Maury Stern's Mount Diablo Audubon Society birdwalk from the Valle Vista Staging Area at Upper San Leandro Reservoir (on Canyon Rd southwest of Moraga). We walked past the horse corrals and a short distance up the wooded hills above the reservoir on King Canyon Trail (EBMUD Trail Permit required).
Although we missed several species commonly seen here, we ended up with a respectable 51 species for the morning. Highlights included great looks at Red-shouldered Hawk, lots of Brown Creepers (many singing), several Wood Ducks (seen at moderate distance in the creek channel), and a clear lengthy scope view of a Red-breasted Nuthatch excavating a nest cavity.
Here's the composite group list for the morning:
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
Killdeer
Common Snipe
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
sapsucker sp. (freshly drilled holes seen, but bird not seen)
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Hutton's Vireo
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Western Bluebird
American Robin
Varied Thrush
Wrentit
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
California Towhee
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Meadowlark
Purple Finch
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
All this despite a very energetic collarless dog that accompanied us on the entire walk and did its best to flush birds for us.
Good birding, Larry
Larry Tunstall
El Cerrito CA